Spokane Friends Meeting

…from the third chapter of Malachi we have this fascinating note where the Lord of hosts says: “the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight is here, here already…”. This messenger, who Matthew argues to be Jesus was already at work in the time of Malachi and according to 2^nd Peter through the early years of the church, and I am here to tell you that that same messenger is the Spirit of Christ for those of us who revere the Lord, those who are attentive to this lamp that does shine in a dark place, this light that is the morning star that seeks to rise in your heart and mine.

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Listen to all the hype we get from the marketers, both commercial and political. They pay good money for advertisements meant to shape your decisions, not for your good and often in direct contradiction to what is best for you. Though we like to boast of a culture that adheres to a notion of free enterprise, we are emotionally susceptible to the principle of scarcity. The fear of something possibly being in short supply, whether it is or not, makes for increased profits. It is the scarcity principle that drives our economy. Most recent is the sharp rise in crude oil prices due to the fear of disruption in the flow of sweet crude from Lybia. Did you notice, it wasn’t the disruption of the supply, it was the fear of it that causes the commotion.

Caught Between Two Principles  Matthew 6:25-34

Mark says it happened on the beach. Luke declares that Jesus was standing on level ground but Matthew seems to have the popular support for his contention that Jesus went up the hill to preach the Sermon on the Mount. But then there is the other niggling question: to whom did Jesus speak? Luke’s recollection was that Jesus spoke to a group of his disciples larger

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Listen to all the hype we get from the marketers, both commercial and political. They pay good money for advertisements meant to shape your decisions, not for your good and often in direct contradiction to what is best for you. Though we like to boast of a culture that adheres to a notion of free enterprise, we are emotionally susceptible to the principle of scarcity. The fear of something possibly being in short supply, whether it is or not, makes for increased profits. It is the scarcity principle that drives our economy. Most recent is the sharp rise in crude oil prices due to the fear of disruption in the flow of sweet crude from Lybia. Did you notice, it wasn’t the disruption of the supply, it was the fear of it that causes the commotion.

Caught Between Two Principles  Matthew 6:25-34

Mark says it happened on the beach. Luke declares that Jesus was standing on level ground but Matthew seems to have the popular support for his contention that Jesus went up the hill to preach the Sermon on the Mount. But then there is the other niggling question: to whom did Jesus speak? Luke’s recollection was that Jesus spoke to a group of his disciples larger

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…had (this passage of scripture) been handed down in the normal way some people might say, “This part doesn’t really apply to me; God was instructing somebody else.” By addressing the people as a whole, the message, in fact, became more personal. Through Moses, God was talking to and addressing every individual. No one has special status, no one was exempt. Each person was expected to look at themselves and adapt the precepts of holiness that were being taught and apply them to themselves.

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…had (this passage of scripture) been handed down in the normal way some people might say, “This part doesn’t really apply to me; God was instructing somebody else.” By addressing the people as a whole, the message, in fact, became more personal. Through Moses, God was talking to and addressing every individual. No one has special status, no one was exempt. Each person was expected to look at themselves and adapt the precepts of holiness that were being taught and apply them to themselves.

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An early Friend, Francis Howgill, said it this way: “We came to know a place to stand in and what to wait in; and the Lord appeared daily to us…. And our hearts were knit unto the Lord and one another in true and fervent love, in the covenant of Life with God; and that was a strong obligation or bond upon all our spirits, which united us one unto another. We met together in the unity of the Spirit and of the bond of peace, treading down under our feet all reasoning about religion. And holy resolutions were kindled in our hearts as a fire—which the Life kindled in us—to serve the Lord while we had our being.

This message, prepared for Sunday, February 13, was not spoken in Meeting for Worship and is made available here for any who might be interested.  There were several other messages shared in Worship by others.  

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The Power of God

Now, you need to understand that it wasn’t that Paul didn’t know about or believe in the Resurrection. He certainly did. The whole 15^th chapter of 1^st Corinthians is the first written account of the Resurrection. “Death” he says “is swallowed up in Victory” and “God be praised, he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” Now that sounds like the Power of God to me. But instead of that, Paul opens up 1^st Corinthians with an unrelenting focus on the message of the cross.

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Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. ¹³He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ¹⁵“Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— ¹⁶the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.” ¹⁷From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”  

For the next few months our Gospel reading will be coming from the Gospel of Matthew. It might be helpful to know that the idea of a Gospel, or “the good news” wasn’t original to early Christianity. Years before Christ, in Asia Minor, this was inscribed for the Emperor’s birthday: “The birthday of the god was for the world the beginning of glad tidings, which have gone forth for his sake.” We’ve got to make a distinction then between Imperial glad tidings and what our Gospel is about.

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Moths seem to be drawn to the light. They congregate around streetlights and frequent torch-lit garden parties. But what is it about the lamp on your porch that moths find so irresistible? Is it the warmth? The pleasing glow? Why are moths attracted to light?   Well, according to Mike Saunders, a professor of entomology at Penn State, the answer is simple: They’re not. 

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Re-reading this oh so familiar passage from Matthew’s rendition of the Christmas story brought to mind some interesting tidbits of historical and traditional interest upon which messages have been preached now for a couple of thousand years: there’s the king of the Jews thing; the question of who were these ‘wise men’ and from where had they really come; the really nasty character of Herod; and of course questions about the star. I got a great laugh when I read how overwhelmed with joy the wise men were when the star finally stopped. I guess I’ve been on trips like that. But what grabbed my attention this time was that before the wise men offered their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh first it says they opened their treasure chests. Maybe I’ve seen too many stage coach robberies in all the western movies I watched. If these men were traveling like the text suggests I can’t help but imagine that what held such precious cargo were more like strong boxes than treasure chests. I connect treasure chests to pirate loot. Strong boxes aren’t supposed to open easily, matter of fact you’d want it to not open in the event it hit the ground or was stolen. But what ever, it got me thinking about whether my heart was more like a treasure chest or a strong box. It seemed to be a matter of how reluctant I might be to share with Christ or with others that which is most precious to me.

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